Darjeeling Mail

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Darjeeling Mail
Darjeeling mail 1.jpg
Overview
Service typeMail
First service1 January 1878; 143 years ago (1 January 1878)
Current operator(s)Eastern Railways
Route
StartSealdah (SDAH)
Stops4(16 during Pre 1947 era)
EndNew Jalpaiguri Junction (NJP)(Siliguri Junction during Pre 1947 era)
Distance travelled573 kilometres (356 mi)(548 kilometres (341 mi) during Pre 1947 era)
Service frequencyDaily
Train number(s)12343 / 12344(43 Up / 44 Dn during Pre 1947 era)
On-board services
Class(es)AC 1st (1), AC 2nd (2), AC 3rd (7), Sleeper (9), General (2), Military(1)
Catering facilitiesNo pantry car available
Technical
Rolling stockLHB coaches
Track gauge1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Operating speed120 kilometres per hour (75 mph) maximum; 57 kilometres per hour (35 mph) average; 51 kilometres per hour (32 mph) during Pre 1947 era.
Route map
Darjeeling Mail (Sealdah–New Jalpaiguri) route map

The Darjeeling Mail is one of the oldest running legendary trains in India that has been running from pre-independence days and is still in operation. It connects to the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway at New Jalpaiguri in Siliguri. This is a major train for Kolkata–Siliguri route. It is also the first train to run with AC electric loco WAP-7 in Sealdah to New-Jalpaiguri stretch.[1]

History[]

Run via East Bengal[]

During the British period all connections to North Bengal were through East Bengal.

From 1878, the railway route from Kolkata, then called Calcutta, to Siliguri was in two laps. The first lap was a 184.9 kilometres (114.9 mi) long journey along the Eastern Bengal State Railway from Calcutta Station (later renamed Sealdah) to Damookdeah Ghat on the southern bank of the Padma River. The passengers would then avail a ferry across the river. The second lap of the journey was a 363.1 kilometres (225.6 mi) metre-gauge line of the North Bengal Railway that linked Saraghat on the northern bank of the Padma to Siliguri.[2]

Later the 1.8 kilometres (5,900 ft) long Hardinge Bridge across the Padma came up in 1912.[3] In 1916 the metre-gauge section north of the bridge was converted to broad gauge, and so the entire Calcutta – Siliguri route became broad-gauge.[2] The route thus roughly ran: Sealdah–Ranaghat–Bheramara–Hardinge Bridge–Iswardi–Santahar–Hili–Parabtipur–Nilphamari–Haldibari–Jalpaiguri–Siliguri.

The Darjeeling Mail ran on this route in pre-partition days. Even after the partition of India it ran on this route for some years.[4][5]

Timings were:- Sealdah d 17.45 hrs; Ranaghat d 19.06 hrs; Iswardi d 21.40 hrs; Parabtipur d 01.35 hrs; Haldibari d 03.10; Siliguri a 04.30 as 43 Up. In return, Siliguri d 19.15; Haldibari d 20.30; Parabtipur d 22.10 hrs; Iswardi d 02.05 hrs; Ranaghat d 04.41 hrs; Sealdah a 06.00 hrs as 44 Dn. The journey of 548 kilometres (341 mi) was covered in 10 hrs 45 mins at speed of 51 kilometres per hour (32 mph)

Ferry across Ganges (Post-partition)[]

With the partition of India in 1947, the major hurdle in connecting Kolkata and Siliguri was that there was no bridge across the Ganges in West Bengal or Bihar. A generally acceptable route to Siliguri was via Sahibganj loop to Rajmahal, then across the Ganges by ferry to Manihari Ghat on the other side, then to Kishanganj via Manihari, Katihar and Barsoi and finally through narrow gauge to Siliguri.[6] In 1949 Kishanganj–Siliguri section too was converted to metre gauge, thus making the entire route an uni-gauge one.[2]

Run via Farakka Barrage[]

In the early 1965s, when Farakka Barrage was being constructed, a more radical change was made. Indian Railways created a new broad-gauge rail link from Kolkata, and on a greenfield site south of Siliguri Town built an entirely new broad-gauge junction, New Jalpaiguri.[2]

The 2,256.25 metres (7,402.4 ft) long Farakka Barrage carries a rail-cum-road bridge across the Ganges. The rail bridge was thrown open to the public in 1971, thereby linking the Barharwa–Azimganj–Katwa loop to Malda Town, Barsoi, Kishanganj, New Jalpaiguri and other railway stations in North Bengal.[7][8] Since then Darjeeling Mail has been using the Howrah–New Jalpaiguri line.

According to a report, a plan has been made to run the Darjeeling Mail via a new route, which is: Sealdah- Barrackpore- Ranaghat- Krishnanagar- Plassey- Murshidabad- Azimganj- Malda Town to New Jalpaiguri. This is to facilitate the passengers of Nadia and Murshidabad districts who had to travel all the way to Sealdah to catch a train to North Bengal. Moreover the current route is congested and lengthy, resulting in delays. A bridge over the Bhagirathi river has been built and tracks have been laid connecting Murshidabad and Azimganj stations. Once this connection is ready, operating the train through this route will bring down the distance as well as running time.

Another report says that the Darjeeling Mail is planned to be run through the now revived Haldibari- Chilahati cross-border railway link, thus retracing the old route on which the train used to ply.

Route and halts[]

The important halts of the train are:

  1. Sealdah (Kolkata) (Starts)
  2. Barddhaman Junction (3 minutes)
  3. Bolpur Shantiniketan (3 minutes)
  4. Malda Town (10 minutes)
  5. Kishanganj (2 minutes)
  6. New Jalpaiguri junction (Siliguri) (Ends)

Operation[]

12343 – Starts from Sealdah Daily at 22:05 Hrs IST from Platform 9B and reaches Platform 1 or 3 of New Jalpaiguri Junction next day at 8:15 Hrs IST. In return, 12344 – Starts form New Jalpaiguri Junction at 20:00 Hrs IST and reach Sealdah at 6:00 Hrs IST.

Train Number Station Code Departure Station Departure Time Departure Day Station Code Arrival Station Arrival Time Arrival Day
12343 SDAH Sealdah 22.05 Hrs. Daily NJP New Jalpaiguri Junction 08:15 Hrs. Daily
12344 NJP New Jalpaiguri Junction 20.00 Hrs. Daily SDAH Sealdah 06:00 Hrs. Daily

Coach composition[]

This train has 24 LHB coaches[9]

Legends
EOG/SLR PC MIL H A HA B AB G K E C S D GEN/UR
Generator cum luggage van Pantry car or Hot buffet car Military coach First AC (1A) Second AC (2A) First AC cum Second AC Third AC (3A) Third AC cum Second AC Third AC economy (3E) Anubhuti coach (K) Executive chair car (EC) AC Chair car (CC) Sleeper class (SL) Second seating (2S) General or Unreserved
  Loco and other service coach
  AC coach
  Non-AC coach

Sealdah to New Jalpaiguri

Loco 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
BSicon LDER.svg SLR S1 B1 A1 A2 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 H1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 GEN GEN MIL SLR

New Jalpaiguri to Sealdah

Loco 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
BSicon LDER.svg SLR MIL GEN GEN S9 S8 S7 S6 S5 S4 S3 S2 H1 B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 A1 A2 B1 S1 SLR

Gallery[]

  • Darjeeling Mail – AC 3 tier

  • Darjeeling Mail – Sleeper Class

See also[]

Other trains on the Kolkata–New Jalpaiguri sector[]

References[]

  1. ^ PATRANABIS, SREERUP. "12343/Darjeeling Mail (PT) - Sealdah to New Jalpaiguri ER/Eastern Zone - Railway Enquiry". India Rail Info. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d "India: the complex history of the junctions at Siliguri and New Jalpaiguri". IRFCA. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  3. ^ Chowdhury, Sifatul Quader (2012). "Hardinge Bridge". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  4. ^ Joydeep Dutta and Harsh Vardhan. "Trains of Fame and Locos with a Name, part 2". . Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  5. ^ "Geography – International". . Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  6. ^ "my school i wish". Madhyamgram Re-visited after 15 years. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  7. ^ Salman, Salman M. A.; Uprety, Kishor (2002). Conflict and cooperation on South Asia's international rivers: a legal perspective. World Bank Publications. pp. 135–136. ISBN 978-0-8213-5352-3. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  8. ^ Saxena, R. P. "Indian Railway History timeline". Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  9. ^ PATRANABIS, SREERUP. "12343/Darjeeling Mail (PT) - Sealdah to New Jalpaiguri ER/Eastern Zone - Railway Enquiry". India Rail Info. Retrieved 9 January 2020.

External links[]

External video
video icon Darjeeling Mail-WDP4 magic with 8 AC coaches
video icon Darjeeling Mail at Kamarkundu Junction

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